1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a tape printing apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a printing apparatus capable of printing on a print tape and then automatically cutting the tape with as little blank area as possible.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printing devices for printing characters, symbols, etc. on print tape are generally known. According to this type of printing apparatus, a print tape 100 is held together with an ink tape 101 between a thermal print head 102 and a platen roller 103, as shown in FIG. 5. Ink coated on the surface of the ink tape 101 is melted and transferred onto the print tape 100 by the thermal print head 102.
The print tape 100 having undergone this thermal transfer process is separated from the ink tape 101, and is adhered to a double-sided adhesive tape 106 by means of a drive roller 104 and a driven roller 105. The drive roller 104 is driven by a stepping motor incorporated in the printing apparatus. The print tape 100 is fed to an outlet 107 by roller 104. It is then cut to the desired length by an operator. The cut piece is to be stuck on the back cover of a file or the like.
When the next segment of the print tape 100 is printed, the printing starts from a position facing the thermal print head 102, not from the cut position. This yields a blank, unprinted area 108 between the cut position and the position facing the thermal print head 102, as shown in FIG. 4A.
Therefore, after cutting the printed tape 100, the operator often must further cut away the blank area 108 from the cut piece using scissors or the like as shown in FIG. 4B, making the cutting work time consuming and troublesome.